Cargo for shipping

An advanced electronic customs clearance procedure system has been experimentally implemented for inbound and outbound cargo ships at the HCM City Port from Wednesday, said the General Department of Viet Nam Customs.
Called e-Manifest, the customs clearance system raises efficiency by conveying freight information to customs officials prior to a shipment arriving at a border.
The system provides timely information on cargo manifests and relating documents such as information related to crew on incoming ships and dangerous goods.
Thanks to the system, Viet Nam Customs has the capability to transfer manifest information in and out of Viet Nam in near real-time, enabling them to significantly reduce processing times for express packages.
The department said the e-Manifest system would be installed at all seaports by the end of this year in an effort to speed up customs clearance processing, increase efficiency and transparency and modernise customs activities in accordance with … [Read more...] about Pilot e-customs clearance for ship at HCM City

A cargo ship docks at a port in Cai Mep-Thi Vai complex, the southern province of Ba Ria - Vung Tau. Photo: Nguyen Long
More than six years since its opening, a VND40-trillion (US$1.75 billion) deep-river port complex in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau is still struggling to reach its designed capacity.
Statistics from the province's transport department showed that a total of 1.16 million TEUs were handled at Cai Mep-Thi Vai last year, or just 17 percent of its capacity, even after freight growth averaged 20 percent a year, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Thursday.
Although all its seven ports are designed to handle container ships of up to 85,000 DWT, just a few of them receive enough large vessels , Tran Van Danh, chief of the province's customs office, was quoted as saying.
The others are now handling small boats carrying farm produce, iron and steel products, and one of them was almost neglected, Danh said.
Cai Mep-Thi Vai has also failed its mission of becoming a key … [Read more...] about Vietnam builds a $1.7 billion port, and now it lies waiting for ships

Bad weather hampered a search on Monday for 16 Philippine seamen missing since their cargo ship sank off Vietnam, a Vietnamese rescue official said. The Bulk Jupiter, owned by Bermuda-based Gearbulk Holdings, was carrying 46,400 metric tons of bauxite bulk from Malaysia to China, the company said. It sent out a distress signal early on Friday. One crew member, the ship's chef, has been rescued and two bodies, including that of the captain, have been recovered. "The weather is very bad with high waves and strong winds," said Pham Hien, vice president of the Vung Tau Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, which is leading the search. "We are all hoping but until now, no further survivor has been found," he told Reuters by telephone. Vietnam has asked Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and China to help in the search and authorities are working with the sole survivor to try to determine why the ship capsized and sank. Gearbulk Holdings said relatives of the crew had been … [Read more...] about Hopes fade for ship survivors off Vietnam as weather hampers search

Maersk Line: More cargo containers shipped to U.S., Europe Kim Yen By Kim Yen - The Saigon Times Daily HCMC - Maersk Line Vietnam in its latest trade report said container volumes to and from Vietnam have grown in the first months of this year compared to last year, especially the shipments bound for the United States and Europe because of rising demand from these markets for made-in-Vietnam goods. In the report released last week, the company said it saw higher container volume growth between Vietnam and Europe compared to the United States in the first quarter of this year. “Exports to Europe grew by 19% and imports rose by 34% compared to the previous year. On the other hand, exports to the U.S. increased by 9%,” the report said. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich, general director of Maersk Line Vietnam and Cambodia Cluster, said the company announced the growth rates based on different sources, including those from the U.S. and Europe. “The market growth that we … [Read more...] about Maersk Line: More cargo containers shipped to U.S., Europe

While ports cannot call for ships By Song Nguyen in HCMC For most seaports worldwide, what matters most for operators is whether shipping lines will have their vessels drop anchors there or not. For Cat Lai Port, the biggest seaport in HCMC, the problem lies elsewhere: infrastructure outside the port. In recent days, transportation companies and shipping agents have complained of the increasing traffic congestion on the road to and from Cat Lai Port in the city's District 2. The traffic congestion outside Cat Lai Port is one of many case studies about the lack of a synchronous infrastructure system, especially roads linking to ports, and has dampened the development of seaports not only in HCMC, but also in the southern focal economic zone. Cargos wait for ports, ports wait for roads Last week, the two-lane Highway 25B that leads to Cat Lai Port was blocked by a long queue of container trucks. Congestion on the road is a chronic problem for years, but the flow of goods has never … [Read more...] about While ports cannot call for ships